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Innovation Enterprise presents a snapshot of the latest developments from the tech world, including the latest IPOs from the tech world, the next three AI and data trends, the best US cities for entrepreneurs and the latest ahead of DATAx San Francisco

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With 2019 continuing to fly by – evident by
the fact we barely noticed we had entered May – the tech industry is also showing
no intention whatsoever of slowing down. Developments from across the tech
sphere have kept the Innovation Enterprise team on our toes this week as we
covered the latest news from an industry somewhat preoccupied with going
public.

Late last week, messaging platform
Slack revealed a net loss of $138.9m for the year ending January 31,
2019, as it filed its IPO papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Slack joins a raft of San Francisco-headquartered companies, including
Uber,
Pinterest
and Lyft,
that have recently taken steps toward going public on the New York Stock
Exchange.

Jeanette Bronée, CEO and founder of health
consultancy Path for Life, spoke to us about self-care, mindfulness and balance,
and how focusing on all can improve productivity and focus in the workspace.

"A healthy and nourished leader is someone
who takes care of themselves first so that they can be available, engaged and
pay attention to the people around them," Bronée told us. "This means
being able to pause for a moment to really consider what is needed for everyone
to be aligned. That way, they can act in a more direct way to address the
intent and purpose of the issue."

In an enlightening conversation about the
future of the data world, we sat down with IBM Data and AI vice-president of
marketing Scott Hebner to discuss what he believed would be
the next three big data trends.

Hebner said that DataOps, AutoAI and OpenScale
were the "next three hills" data scientists needed to climb if they
want to help drive data innovation.

"Some businesses are beginning to rely on
AI models, but you have to provide them with the ability to understand if
there's any bias in the model, so you can explain what the model is telling you
and how it came to that conclusion," Hebner noted.

If you live in the UK, there's no escaping
Brexit. It dominates the news agenda, is all any politician can talk about, and
is causing friction between friends and family members. But in London, a survey
released this week has provided "remainers" in the UK capital with
more ammunition for their debates with "leavers".

Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates,
remarked: "One thing is certain – the political situation is harming our
fastest-growing industry and making access to capital and talent harder than
ever before."

In his detailed analysis, which has proven
popular with our readership, Deshmukh explored how blockchain was deemed ideal
for the energy segment due to its ability to enable the creation of automated,
auditable and transparent records of generated power and its subsequent
consumption.

"Blockchain is now pegged as one of the
prime technology platforms to help energy companies achieve their digitization
goals and reach a higher number of consumers," Deshmukh noted.

Produced by digital business publication
FitSmallBusiness.com, the guide looked at metrics such as business survival
rate, financial landscape and tax climate to determine that Seattle,
Washington, was the best US city for entrepreneurs in 2019.

Joining the north-western city in the top five
of the annual listing were St. Louis, Denver, Detroit and Nashville.

Among these, our favorite was the development
of an "AI cucumber" which the company's iGrow team has entered into
international agriculture competitions. There were, of course, many serious and
progressive applications, but something about the term "AI cucumber" has
completely captured our attention.